


An Aura of Hope

by goldenvanella



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Human Turned Pokemon, Multi, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-05-31 22:03:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15128741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenvanella/pseuds/goldenvanella
Summary: Aurora and Shadow are raised like siblings, and, despite their unusual circumstances, are finely attuned to each other. When they forge a Rescue Team together, their adventures lead to discoveries that threaten to sever this closeness and shake their perception of what is truly real.





	1. Prologue: An Autumn Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While searching for the last berries of the season, Shadow finds a Riolu amidst all the leaves.

        Brittle, colorful autumn leaves coated the forest floor like a flood, reaching up to Shadow's belly as the young Zorua dragged himself throughout the woods with the tedious responsibility of gathering food for his family. He hated this time of year. Berries were scarce, going out of season, and increasingly difficult to come across, but he was too young and too weak to search much farther than the woods outside his tiny home. He struggled to push the thick coats of dead leaves aside each day as he scoured the woods for any bud or sprout that hadn't yet shriveled up and fallen to the ground. Anything to fill his bag.  
        Amidst the sea of orange and brown, he made out a hint of something blue, barely visible above the surface. He could barely believe his eyes. Had he found a ripe Oran Berry? He couldn't recall Oran Berries growing in this area of the woods, but he didn't stop to question it. He abandoned all caution and approached it greedily in a sprint. Anything to fill his bag.  
        He leaped into the air recklessly and extended his claws, prepared to sink them into the surface of the bright, fresh berry. Anything to fill his bag.  
        "Ow!" He heard it from beneath his paw. He snapped out of his ravenous daze and looked down. His claws were sunk into the forehead of a Riolu. He had just initiated a battle with a Riolu. He quickly removed his claws from its forehead and leaped away, praying he hadn't made her mad.  
        "I'm sorry!" He wailed. Head spinning for an ideal route of escape, he dug beneath the leaves and buried himself, curling into a ball and hushing his breath. He went still. Was she mad?  
        He heard the shifting of leaves. Something was moving, and it was moving toward him. His body went stiff. She was moving slowly, with erratic steps. He knew Riolu weren't fully capable of using aura to locate other Pokemon, but such a young Riolu traveling without a pack nearby was unheard of. Even if this one wasn't strong enough to fight, there were bound to be at least a few Lucario nearby who were more than capable.  
        The leaves above him shifted as she threw them to the side. He closed his eyes and covered his head in one last attempt at self-defense. His body was trembling. He was even tearing up.  
        "You dropped this." He recoiled as the weight of his nearly-empty fabric bag fell onto his body. The sound of the Riolu's footsteps grew distant as she stumbled away. He risked opening an eye. He was alone. The sound of the Riolu trudging through the leaves had stopped. He abandoned his defensive position and sat up. Had he been spared?  
Sitting up, he scanned the forest around him, and flinched when he saw the distant silhouette of the Riolu. She loomed a few feet away from him, back turned and nose pointed to the sky, watching the setting sun. Shadow swallowed his cowardice and approached her.  
        When he stood by its side, he opened his mouth to ask a question, but found himself unable. Instead, all he could manage was an abrupt "Thank you."  
        She turned her red irises down to look at him for a brief second, scanning over his features before returning her focus to the horizon, nodding sympathetically. "Where am I?" she whispered, her face contorting to a muddled grimace.  
Shadow stared into the horizon with her, wondering what had fascinated the Riolu so thoroughly. "If it helps you any, you're in a forest on the outskirts of Diamondfrost Town."  
        She glared down at him, her teeth clenched. "D-Diamondfrost Town?" The Zorua nodded quickly, averting his eyes. She groaned, fumbling backward and holding her head in her hands.  
        "Are you okay?" Shadow asked, approaching her side as it fell to the ground. "Does your head still hurt from where I attacked you?"  
        She shook her head. "Before.... It hurt before...."  
        "Do you want something to help with that?" She nodded.  
        The Zorua reached into his bag and produced a small, stiff Sitrus Berry from beneath the fabric. "It might be a little bitter, it's not exactly ripe, but it'll help with the pain." He pressed the berry into her palm, and she squeezed her eyes shut before swallowing it whole  
        She gagged, "Bitter.... What was that?"  
        "A- A Sitrus Berry," he answered, not wasting a second on hesitation.  
        "But my head," she muttered, her eyes falling open, "it doesn't hurt anymore! Thank you!" The Riolu was now beaming with gratitude.  
        He smiled. "It was the least I could have done. You kinda spared my life."  
        Her smile faded as she looked away. "Where exactly did you say I was, again?"  
        "A forest on the outskirts of Diamondfrost Town," he repeated, tilting his head.  
        She shook her head, looking down at the bed of leaves that covered her feet as if it provided any answers to the questions she couldn't verbalize. She gave a frustrated sigh and kicked them to the side.  
        "You don't know where to go from here, do you?" She shook her head. "Do you want somewhere to stay?"  
        Again, she shook her head. "Please, you've already done more than enough for me. I can figure out somewhere to go, but thank you for your offer."  
        "No, really, it's no bother to me. Winter's coming soon, you'll need somewhere to stay," he insisted. "Do you even know how to fight?"  
        She let a silent moment pass before she looked back at him. "Where is your home?"  
                        _/*~*~*\\_  
        The Riolu flinched at the sudden scene of a Houndoom breathing a massive blaze into a stone fireplace. Her new friend had only just opened the door to his wooden hut, and already she was rethinking her decision to stay here. Over the roar of the fire, neither the Houndoom nor the Zoroark who stood safely behind him had noticed the entry of the two children, but if she ran, where would she run off to?  
        She looked to the Zorua for reassurance, who grinned sheepishly. She could tell from what she could read of his aura that he was pleading her to stay. She couldn't argue with the sincerity in his expression, so she followed him as he stepped inside.  
        "I'm home!" he shouted over the crackling blaze his father had set to keep the house warm, slinging his bag off of his shoulder and handing it to the Zoroark, who took it with a sweet smile.  
        "Welcome home, Shadow," she greeted. "Who is this you've brought with you?" The Zoroark, while still maintaining her grin, eyed over the Riolu suspiciously.  
        "She's--" he started.  
        "I'm lost," the Riolu admitted, "and he offered to let me stay here. I promise not to burden you, ma'am." She bowed her head politely in a gesture that Shadow hadn't expected.  
        "Have you gone missing from your pack?" she asked.  
        The Riolu tilted her head. "Pack?"  
        "Surely you must come from a pack, you're a Riolu. You can't be from Diamondfrost because only Ice-Types live there, so you must be living with other Riolu and Lucario. They have to be searching for you out there," she reasoned.  
        "What is this about a pack of Riolu and Lucario?" the Houndoom snapped, turning away from his fire and taking notice of Shadow's friend.  
        "Shadow brought home this little Riolu that says she's lost, and I think she's been separated from her pack," the Zoroark explained.  
        "No she hasn't," the Houndoom growled. "Lucario can see aura from half a mile away at least, if they wanted to find her, they'd be here by now. If she had a pack, they must've abandoned her."  
        Despite the heat, the Riolu shivered, legs shaking and lip quivering. The Zoroark took notice of her and immediately cooed, "Poor thing. We ought to take her in, Igneous."  
        "We hardly have enough to feed the three of us, we can't handle another kid!" the Houndoom roared, shaking the branches that composed his house.  
        "Oh, but where else will she go? You can't tell me you'd let her back outside to fend for herself. It's coming on winter," the Zoroark pleaded.  
        The Houndoom grumbled, wrinkling his snout as he glanced briefly at the Riolu. "Does she have a name?"  
        The Zoroark grinned, but kept silent and turned eagerly to the Riolu for a response. A hush fell down upon the household of four as the Riolu squinted her eyes, deep in thought. Eventually, she gave up and shook her head. "I don't."  
        "I say we call her Aurora!" suggested the Zoroark.  
        "It's aura that Lucario control, Crimson, not aurora," Igneous growled.  
        "I know, I know, I just think that Aurora's a pretty name," she reasoned. "And, you know, the auroras should be showing up any time now around here. It's fitting."  
        "I'd hardly call it fitting--"  
        "I like it," the Riolu interrupted, then added after a worried glance toward the Houndoom, "Pardon."  
        He rolled his eyes. "Well, if Aurora's gonna be staying with us, we better start preparing something to eat."


	2. Chapter 1 - First Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desperate to find food, Aurora and Shadow enter a Mystery Dungeon and run into some unexpected trouble.

       "Stay close, Aurora," urged Shadow. "Don't get lost out here."

       "I am, I am," mumbled Aurora, following Shadow's trail through the fallen leaves. As autumn progressed, the sea of foliage grew deeper and its colors drained to brown. The crunch of leaves beneath her feet grew noisier with their decay, and Aurora couldn't help but wonder why Shadow worried for her when he must be able to hear the sounds of her footsteps. She looked up to the tree branches above her, spindly and bare, with narrowed eyes. There wasn't a berry in sight. "Not like there's anywhere around here I'd run off to, anyway...."

       "Yeah, I know, but my dad'll kill me if I lose you. He doesn't really trust me to forage for berries on my own. Says I've been coming home with too little lately," Shadow admitted, making his best effort to keep his head high. Aurora could tell it was tough for him.

       "It's not your fault the forest's empty," Aurora reassured. "Besides, I'm not sure how much of a difference I'll make if there aren't any berries left to find."

       "We've got to find some," argued Shadow. "We can't just head home empty handed. My dad'll--"

       "That's ridiculous," interrupted Aurora. "We've searched all over this forest three times over! Where are we supposed to get berries from?" She groaned loudly, kicking aside a pile of withered leaves.

       "Well, there's still somewhere we could look, but...." Shadow's words trailed off, his nose pointed to the ground.

       "What do you mean there's somewhere left to look?" asked Aurora.

       "Well, I've kinda been avoiding it, but there's a place called Berry Forest around here that's completely separate from our seasons. It's summer all year round in there, so berries are always fresh and ready to be picked there," Shadow explained, "but my dad really doesn't want me going in there. Says if I went into a Mystery Dungeon like that by myself I'd never come out."

       "A Mystery Dungeon?" Aurora questioned. "What's that?"

       Shadow smirked. "Have you never heard of Mystery Dungeons?" Aurora shook her head. "They're like mazes, where wild Pokemon live and usually attack anyone that goes in. They're usually only explored by Rescue Teams because it's a Rescue Team's job to brave them in hopes of making discoveries or helping other Pokemon." A wide grin spread across his face and his eyes shimmered as he continued, "I've always wanted to be on a Rescue Team, even though my dad doesn't think I could, but," his expression dulled, "every guild I've applied to rejected me."

       Aurora stepped to his side. "He might not have wanted you to go alone, but I'll be with you. I'm sure we'll be fine if we go together. The two of us could be like a Rescue Team."

       A moment passed in which neither Pokemon spoke. Aurora held her breath. Without warning, Shadow sprinted through the leafy sea and called for Aurora to follow.

       With a grin, Aurora gave chase. "At least tell me before you take of running!" she teased.

       "Sorry!" shouted Shadow. "It's a little far into the woods, so it'll be faster if we run."

       Aurora's surroundings didn't seem to change, no matter how far she ran. As far as she could see, she was surrounded by hundreds of skeletal trees and thousands of browning leaves. She began to doubt Shadow's words, until he arrived at a pair of trees that still held their bright leaves, vibrant and verdant. Between them stretched a patch of soft, green grass, in the midst of the sea of wither and decay. "Is that it? Berry Forest is just two trees?"

       Smirking widely, Shadow shook his head. "No, that's just the entrance." He leaped between the two trunks, vanishing from Aurora's sight within seconds. She followed after him, hesitantly, and the fallen leaves that she had grown used to seeing had disappeared, replaced with a plush carpet of grass. Plump, brightly-colored berries hung profusely from the trees around her, which were no longer gaunt and bare but coated in leaves of deep greens. A pleasant warmth surrounded her. Aurora blindly scanned her surroundings, consumed with disbelief.

       "Here we are," announced Shadow, whose voice surprised Aurora, having seemingly come from nowhere. She searched the vegetation for him, to no avail.

       "Where are you?" she demanded. "I can't see you!" As she frantically scanned the forest, she felt something hit the top of her head, having fallen from above. She turned her head to the ground, where a round, bright Pecha Berry rested in the grass between her feet. She shifted her eyes upward, toward a massive Pecha tree with a Treecko lounged in its branches, arms filled with more of the pink fruits.

       It chuckled, and spoke in a familiar voice, "Relax, Aurora, it's just me!" With a bright, cyan glow, the Treecko's figure shifted until it took on the silhouette of a Zorua, and from that light, Shadow emerged. "It was just an illusion, so I wouldn't get attacked by the wild Pokemon."

       Clutching her chest, Aurora sighed. "Don't do that, you scared me," she mumbled. She reached to the forest floor for the Pecha Berry, which felt soft in her hands, completely unlike what she had grown accustomed to, and took a bite. Its sweet pulp filled her mouth, flooding her senses with the sweet juice. Its flavor was completely unlike what she had grown accustomed to. She savored it, possibly crying. Shadow wasn’t paying attention; he had already resumed his disguise and continued plucking berries from the tree.

       Aurora left behind the pit of her Pecha Berry and climbed a nearby tree with countless tiny Cheri Berries dangling from the branches like pearls. She would pick a handful and put them into her bag, and then stuff the next handful into her mouth, enamored by the flavor of anything but bitter. How could something like this have existed without her knowing? How could she ever eat another unripe berry?

       Her bag was heavy on her shoulder, filled with vibrant Cheri Berries, and she struggled to fasten it shut over them. Aurora devoured another handful of Cheri Berries before leaping down to the forest floor. "Haboh?" she called, her mouth still filled with berries. She swallowed, "Where are you?"

       Hearing a faint rustle from a bush to her right and remembering Shadow’s warnings, Aurora stepped back and took a defensive stance. Several Pidgey crowded around, accompanied by a loudly cawing Pidgeotto and sending forceful gusts of wind into the shrub and slicing its branches. Not one of them noticed Aurora as she walked by, and she would have been content to have done so, had she not heard a familiar calling of her name. He leaped out from the mangled sticks and scratched at the bird Pokemon with what force he could muster forth. He repeated himself, "Aurora, help me!"

       Eyes wide and clueless, Aurora could do nothing but stand still. She had no clue how to fight, but still Shadow called out for her help. She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth, and raced toward the bush in a way that only felt instinctual. "Use Quick Attack!" The steps came faster and faster until she could no longer feel the movement. Faintly, she made out the fluttering grey figures that surrounded a quivering, yellow form. She was approaching rapidly, launching her entire body into the Pidgeotto, sending it hurling into a nearby tree. The rest scattered shortly after, darting away with haste. Aurora heaved deep breaths, collapsing on her knees next to her friend.

       "Thanks, Aurora," Shadow chuckled. She nodded. "I think I disturbed a nest or something while I was picking berries. I think I got a few cuts and bruises, but I think I’ll be fine." She nodded again, gasping heavily. Shadow got up and adjusted his bag around his neck, "We should really get going before they come back." She nodded.

       The warmth was gone. Aurora and Shadow were back in their world of autumn, headed to their wooded home with bags bursting with berries. Aurora could only feel exhaustion, and, as much as Shadow fought to maintain his exuberance, he couldn’t help but feel the same. It would be a long winter if they were to venture Berry Forest day after day.

       Aurora didn’t even flinch at the explosion of flames that met her when she arrived home anymore. She and Shadow left their collections by the fireplace as they were expected to since Aurora’s arrival, and waited in silence for Crimson’s return. The two didn’t have to say a word to agree not to mention their brief outing in Berry Forest.

       "I’m impressed with you kids," Igneous admitted, taking notice of their findings. "Didn’t think there was much left out in the wilderness, definitely not this much." Aurora nodded, eying Shadow nervously. "You’d been coming up real short lately, I was worried we’d have to ask Crimson to pick up even more while she was out in Diamondfrost. Where’d you find ‘em, anyway?" He grinned, but there was a distinct sneer in his eyes. Aurora and Shadow exchanged a nervous glance. "You two did stay in the woods, right? You didn’t wander off?"

       Aurora bit her lip anxiously, nodding her head. Igneous narrowed his eyes, but before he could speak again, the door flung open, and from it, a bright white light poured in. Crimson was home, and she had abandoned her illusion at the door. Even though this was an everyday occurrence, Aurora still squinted long after the light faded. Crimson didn’t bother announcing her arrival. She dropped her bag of berries at Igneous’s feet. "Even the stores are running low on stock," she told him. "I negotiated for as much as I could, but the markets aren’t getting that many shipments this time of year."

       "Well, luckily, the kids came across quite the discovery today," Igneous remarked, pouring the berries from Aurora and Shadow’s bags into a sizeable mound before the fireplace. Crimson couldn’t help letting her mouth water a little. "Unfortunately, they won’t tell me where they found it, or else--"

       "I don’t care," interjected Crimson. She smiled, winking discreetly in Aurora and Shadow’s direction. "As long as we've got food on the table tonight, I don’t care where it came from. Come on, kids, let’s have something to eat."

       Sighing lightly, Aurora took a Pecha Berry. "Thank you."

       Crimson chuckled. "You were the one that found it, kid. Thank you."


End file.
